


moon in her eye

by yeswayappianway



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Curses, Gen, Philadelphia Flyers, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 05:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17740214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeswayappianway/pseuds/yeswayappianway
Summary: “Hey, where’s TK?” Claude asks. Nolan winces internally.“He’s, uh, he’s sick. He texted me, said he felt like shit. I figured he told you too?” he adds, looking at Claude.“Nope, he didn’t. Can I call him, or is he too sick for that?” Claude definitely sounds like he doesn’t believe any of this. Fuck.“Uh, I think so?”“Great,” Claude says. “I’ll be right back." Nolan wants to text TK a heads-up, but everyone is still staring at him, and that will be too suspicious, so he doesn’t, just tries to think really hard in TK’s direction. Of course, Nolan doesn’t have telepathy, because if he did, maybe he could help fix TK’s stupid curse that’s causing all this trouble in the first place.





	moon in her eye

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: A REAL-LIFE SIGNIFICANT OTHER IS A MAJOR CHARACTER IN THIS STORY! (i know this is in the tags, but just in case anyone's not looking at them) voracek and simmons have very minor roles in this but i figured it was short enough to tag them anyway
> 
> this is silly and pointless but shrug emoji. it was also supposed to be SHORTER than this
> 
> based on a very short conversation jarka and i had at one point, and not beta-ed, so let me know if you spot any typos!
> 
> title from witchy woman by the eagles because i am unimaginative

“Hey, where’s TK?” Claude asks, as everyone is trailing into the locker room before practice. Nolan winces internally.

“He’s, uh, he’s sick,” he says, just like TK had asked him to. Several of the guys’ heads turn toward Nolan.

Jake raises an eyebrow. “He’s sick?” He sounds skeptical, and Nolan wishes TK had asked someone, anyone else to lie for him. It’s not that Nolan _can’t_ lie, it’s just that TK hadn’t given him any warning, and how the fuck was he supposed to get everyone off the case when all he could say was, “He’s sick”?

“Yeah,” Nolan says, desperately trying to come up with something else. “He texted me, said he felt like shit. I figured he told you too?” he adds, looking at Claude. 

It’s Claude’s turn to raise an eyebrow skeptically. “Nope, he didn’t. Can I call him, or is he too sick for that?” Claude definitely sounds like he doesn’t believe any of this. Fuck.

“Uh, I think so? He seemed pretty bad off, but he didn’t say anything about his voice.”

“Great,” Claude says. “I’ll be right back,” and he grabs his phone and goes out into the hallway. Nolan wants to text TK a heads-up, but everyone is still staring at him, and that will be too suspicious, so he doesn’t, just tries to think really hard in TK’s direction. Of course, Nolan doesn’t have telepathy, because if he did, maybe he could help fix TK’s stupid curse that’s causing all this trouble in the first place.

\-----

Practice goes relatively well after that, and Claude must talk to TK, because he comes out and talks to Coach, and no one asks anything else suspicious. As they’re all leaving the ice, though, Claude comes up behind him and says, in a low voice, “Why didn’t you tell me it was a curse?”

Nolan sneaks a glance around, but no one seems to be paying attention. “Because TK told me not to tell anyone!” he hisses. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t you tell _me_?” Claude asks again. “Ryanne can probably fix it, and fuck knows I got myself into enough trouble when I was your age.”

Ignoring the opening for the very obvious old man chirp, Nolan says incredulously, “Why in the world would Ryanne be able to help? It’s a fucking curse, G.”

“Because she’s a fucking witch, Nol,” Claude echoes, incredibly snidely.

Nolan laughs. “Good joke, man, but you’re not going to get me with that one.”

Claude groans. “God, it’s not a joke, why does everyone always think it’s a joke?”

“What’s a joke, your conditioning?” Simmer says as they reach the locker room. Claude’s been getting louder as this conversation went on, so Nolan’s not totally surprised that someone else heard them, but he still grimaces. He’s not entirely sure why TK was so adamant about keeping the curse secret, but Nolan’s going to try and keep his word.

“Funny,” Claude says, completely deadpan. “No, the fact that Ryanne’s a witch. Even you don’t believe me, do you?”

Simmer nervously looks around the room, as if trying to find someone else to pass this one off to. The other guys are all either staring pointedly at the floor, or blatantly staring at Claude and Simmer. “Uh, I mean…” Simmer says, weakly.

“For fuck’s sake, don’t tell me you all believe the bullshit about black cats and pointy hats?” Claude asks. He seems like he’s really starting to get worked up, and Nolan has no idea how he started this.

Ghost answers. “No, of course not, it’s just… come on. I’ve seen witches getting interviewed on tv, when there’s been some major magic thing, and they’re all…” he waves his hand around in the air. “You know, they’re all dramatic and… witches are a big deal.”

Claude glares. “First of all, don’t you think that they’re dramatic _because_ they’re on tv? That’s how tv works, dumbass, they want you to be impressed so you’ll believe whatever they’re saying. Second, why does no one believe me about my own wife? I’m not just making this shit up, you can ask her.”

There’s an awkward silence as everyone presumably tries to figure out how to say what Nolan is thinking, which is that you can’t just ask someone if they’re a witch. That’s, like, offensive or something. Probably.

Claude rolls his eyes impatiently. “Well, when you all need magic help and you go all the way to New York to some asshole who will charge you a ridiculous amount, I’m going to laugh and say I told you so.” As he walks by Nolan, he mutters, “Bring TK over when you get back. I don’t care if you believe me or not, TK did.”

\-----

So that’s how Nolan ends up driving TK over to Claude’s. TK’s got a hoodie pulled really low over his face, his hands shoved in the pocket, because TK is green. Not, like, a little green because he’s queasy, but bright, lime green all over. His hair has gone green, too. Nolan thinks it’s not all that bad, but he admits that it would probably be bad to have pictures taken of TK this way in public. Also, they don’t know for sure that it’s a curse (although it’s obviously magic), and TK seems worried that it’s somehow contagious. Nolan thinks that’s stupid, because TK hadn’t seen any green people before he turned green, but TK hadn’t listened to that.

TK gets out of the car, looking around quickly, in between keeping his head firmly trained on the ground and trying to shrink into the hood even farther. Nolan shakes his head, and starts walking toward the elevator up to Claude and Ryanne’s apartment.

There are no incidents on the way up, although someone’s dog growls at them and TK flinches away. Nolan is about to knock on the door when it swings open and Ryanne says, “Hi, boys.”

They come inside, and Nolan sees Claude fighting a losing battle with Charlie and Harvey to keep them away from the front door. He gives up when the door is shut, and Harvey runs over to Nolan and starts nosing at his leg.

Ryanne is looking at TK, who’s reluctantly taken his hood down, and she hasn’t said anything yet, but she seems to be examining his green face thoroughly.

Claude whistles. “Damn, TK, who’d you piss off?”

“No one!” TK protests, and Nolan gives him a disbelieving look just as Claude does the same. “Ok, lots of people, but no one _in particular_ this time!”

“No, I’m pretty sure it was someone in particular, but that doesn’t matter, I can fix it without knowing that,” Ryanne says.

Nolan stares. “You can… fix it?” he asks, knowing he sounds like an idiot, just repeating what she said, but unable to think of anything else.

She nods, business-like as she pulls out a black wicker basket from one of the cupboards in the kitchen. “Why did you think you were bringing him over here?” she asks, sounding amused.

“I—I don’t know, but…” Nolan trails off. He can’t just _ask_.

“It’s alright, you can ask,” she says, definitely amused now. Nolan stares openly, and he thinks his mouth is probably hanging open a bit.

Claude laughs at him, because Claude is a dick. “I told you,” he says smugly. To Ryanne, Claude says, “They still don’t believe you’re a witch, babe.”

Ryanne shrugs. “That’s okay, they don’t need to. Here,” she says, handing some sort of rock to TK. “Hold that, and go sit on the floor in the living room.”

“I know they don’t need to, but they should anyway!” Claude says indignantly, following TK into the living room. Nolan is still standing in between the two rooms, not quite believing what he’s seeing.

“Um,” TK says, and his voice sounds shaky. “What are you going to do, exactly?”

Nolan steps toward the living room, and sees that TK looks—scared, honestly.

“Hey,” Claude says, suddenly gentle. “TK, it’s going to be fine. Did you feel anything when you—how did you turn green, anyway?”

“I just woke up this way,” TK says, his shoulders drooping. He looks so sad and pathetic that Nolan is torn between trying to cheer him up and looking away.

“So, it didn’t even wake you up, you didn’t feel anything at all. It’s not going to be any different going away,” Claude says, and he seems so reasonable and competent that Nolan finally starts to believe what’s happening. Maybe this really is normal life for him.

“Right,” says Ryanne, clapping her hands. Charlie trots over to her at the noise and sits obediently at her feet next to the small pile of—stuff. Nolan can’t identify any of it, but she seems to have brought it into the living room from the basket. “All I need you to do, TK, is sit there, and try not to move too much.” TK starts fidgeting immediately, and Claude snickers. Ryanne ignores him and keeps talking. “You shouldn’t feel anything, and this should be a fairly short process.”

TK nods, looking determined in the same way he does when he’s on the bench and they’re down by a couple goals, which is an expression Nolan is annoyingly familiar with at this point.

Ryanne smiles at TK. “And yes, just to be very clear, I am a witch, and yes, this is magic.”

“I got that,” TK snorts. “I think Patty was the one who didn’t believe it.”

Everyone looks at Nolan, who can feel himself blushing. He fucking hates that. “I believe it now,” he mutters.

Ryanne smirks a little, and turns back to her pile, pulling out a black ribbon. She walks around TK, laying it out on the ground in a circle around him and deliberately overlapping the ends. Next, she sets out three candles around the circle and then, right in front of Nolan’s eyes, she snaps her fingers and flames jump to life on all three candles.

TK’s eyes are huge, and Nolan assumes his are, too, because _whoa_. Ryanne sits down cross-legged in front of TK, and Nolan notices that in her left hand, she’s holding a rock that looks just like the one TK’s holding, slightly shiny and angular. Just then, she puts her right hand on Charlie’s head and takes a deep breath.

From his vantage point, Nolan can see one of her eyes slip closed, and then there’s a feeling in the room, like static electricity being pulled across his whole body at once, and then Ryanne opens her eyes. They’re glowing a very pale green, and, he realizes, so are Charlie’s. She keeps her hand on Charlie’s head, and he sits perfectly still, something Nolan’s never seen from either of the dogs before. Come to think of it, this might be the first time he’s seen TK sitting completely still, too.

Ryanne says something, and Nolan has no idea what language it is, but the two rocks start glowing that same pale green, and suddenly the glow is traveling up TK’s arms from the rock in his hands, and as it moves, his skin shimmers slightly and then turns back to his normal pale tan in the wake of the glow moving over his body. It ends at his head, and there’s a faint pop as the green glow snaps through his hair, which turns back to dark brown but is sticking straight up.

“There,” Ryanne says, sounding pleased. She murmurs another word, and the green glows all fade. Charlie yips, and wanders off toward the direction of his food bowl. She snaps her fingers again, and the candles go out. “You can get up now,” she tells TK, who looks thoroughly awed. Nolan can’t blame him.

“That—” Nolan starts, and then realizes he has no idea how to finish that sentence.

“Thank you,” TK says, earnestly.

Ryanne grins at him. “No problem, TK. Maybe try to piss off less people, though? You never know which ones are witches, and waking up green is pretty tame.”

TK’s eyes are huge as he nods.

“Good, all better?” Claude says, standing up abruptly. “You can leave now.”

“Hey!” Nolan protests, but Claude shakes his head.

“Nope, you can apologize to me tomorrow, right now, you can leave.”

TK grumbles, “What do you have to do that’s so important?”, and instead of ignoring them, Claude actually answers.

“Ryanne just did something very impressive, and I want to show her how much I love her, so go away before I make Jake give you a fine.”

Nolan can feel his cheeks heating again, but he grabs TK’s arm, and drags him toward the door. Ryanne is laughing, and Nolan can’t tell if it’s at Claude or at them. He doesn’t care, he just wants to leave and have everything go back to normal.

“Bye, have fun!” TK calls back over his shoulder as they close the door behind them, and Nolan smacks him in the shoulder.

“You _just_ got turned un-green, don’t push it,” he hisses.

TK makes a dismissive noise. “Claude’s the least magic person I’ve ever met, what’s he gonna do?”

“It’s not Claude I was talking about,” Nolan says darkly. “Didn’t you hear what Ryanne said about not pissing off witches?”

“Oh,” TK says. Then he shrugs. “Whatever, worth it.”

Nolan just shakes his head, and resigns himself to probably having to do this again, because apparently TK has learned nothing. He doesn’t know what he expected, really.

**Author's Note:**

> i just love claude and ryanne a lot, okay
> 
> come talk to me about them (or other things!) on twitter at steelinstories, on tumblr at topcopbobrovsky, or on dreamwidth at steelinmystories


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